There have been a number of proposals over time for football shoes or boots with uppers to enhance the outcome of kicking a ball. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,421,936 discloses a football shoe having an upper with an instep defined by a pair of longitudinally extending spaced apart ridges laterally of a transversally concave surface for substantially cupping a ball that contacts the instep. The upper further has a toe region and the ridges have, at their front ends behind the toe region, front surfaces with respective upper peaks.
The broad concept of a concave ball contacting surface is also disclosed in European patent 359081, in which a pair of ridges are disposed along the sides of the lace region, and in European patent 496931 in which the concave surface extends from a planar shoe tip almost to the ankle opening. International patent publication WO096122712 describes a soccer shoe in which a mix of external leather patches and ribs in the toe region are thought to give the player a more accurate control of the ball during kicking.
With the configuration of U.S. Pat. No. 6,421,936, objective tests have established that the modified upper increases the departure velocity of the ball when all other factors are substantially equal, and subjective player experience is that the configuration increases kicking accuracy. Both these benefits are clearly valuable when kicking for goal in soccer and other football codes. However, player experience is that football shoes with modified uppers of the kinds disclosed in the aforementioned patents can be less comfortable than unmodified shoes, especially when running down the ground, because of reduced flexibility in the upper. This was a reason why the modified region is set back behind the toe region in embodiments described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,421,936, and in a commercial shoe made pursuant to that patent and marketed under the brand Concave™. While these shoes have been found beneficial for their improved kicking accuracy and ball speed, players have suggested that comfort might be improved during running, and have also expressed some concern about the additional weight of the shoe arising from the inserted material to achieve the modified upper configuration.
It is an object of the invention to at least in part address these concerns.
Reference to any prior art in the specification is not, and should not be taken as, an acknowledgment or any form of suggestion that, this prior art forms part of the common general knowledge in Australia or any other jurisdiction or that this prior art could reasonably be expected to be ascertained, understood and regarded as relevant by a person skilled in the art.